The man who caught more passes as a Broncos wide receiver than anyone else in team history stood on the sideline at Dove Valley this past week, eyes focused intently on Denver’s new quarterback. Rod Smith watched in awe as Peyton Manning launched pass after pass to the new crop of Broncos receivers, such as Demaryius Thomas and Eric Decker, and even Brandon Stokley, who was a new Bronco in 2007 when Smith was on his way out.

“I’m watching (Manning) throw this kind of deep seam route to Stokley,” Smith said. “I’m in the perfect position, because I’m watching this ball when it leaves his hand. I’m watching it, I’m watching it curve and just lay in his hands, and I get the flashbacks from John (Elway) and (Brian) Griese and all the guys I played with who used to do it to me.”

There, inside one sentence in a 30-minute news conference, Smith revealed a juicy bit of insight into how Manning is trying to bounce back from a disappointing second game as a Bronco.

Did Smith really mention a deep seam pass to Stokley?

Sounds like Manning is really trying to fix what went wrong in Monday’s 27-21 loss at Atlanta, when he threw three first-quarter interceptions, each on about a a 30-yard pass down the seam. One of the intercepted passes was intended for Stokley.

“What happens is, he’s adjusting,” Broncos coach John Fox said. “It’s only his second game in a Bronco uniform. Sure, we had an offseason, but it’s been a busy offseason for him. So I think it’s remarkable what he’s done.”

Still, Manning’s off night — well, off quarter, to be specific — set off a near mass panic back in the Mile High City, and hysteria that Manning might not actually be the Manning fans remember. There were questions about his arm strength (because all three interceptions came on deep passes) and concerns that Mike Nolan and the Atlanta defense had outsmarted Manning.

All of those questions seemed to perturb Manning to the point of snippiness with the media during the week and had him wound tightly during the portions of practice that was open to reporters Thursday and Friday.

“It’s not been deterred at all,” Manning said, when asked to evaluate his confidence level, “if you’re insinuating that coming off a game. We’re still learning about each other.”

Manning routinely seemed miffed during the preseason to learn that his training camp passes were being charted by reporters, yet scrutiny on a quarterback is hardly new in this town, from John Elway’s infamous Halloween candy exposé through analysis of every Tim Tebow pass, handoff and scramble.

“It’s comical, all right, the degree of the roller coaster, win or lose,” Fox said. “It’s kind of what you sign up for. Our fans are interested, it’s on the Internet, it’s this, it’s that. It’s great because it’s popular, but sometimes the extremes are a bit comical.”

Fox and Manning quickly shot down any idea that Manning’s interceptions were the result of a weak arm or the aftereffects of the four surgeries Manning had performed on his neck that resulted in a year away from football.

That could be supported by science, as well.

Dr. Vikas Patel, the chief of orthopaedic spine surgery and associate professor at the University of Colorado, said Manning’s nerve regeneration should be nearly complete a year after spinal fusion surgery.

“Our textbooks will tell us a nerve can take two years to reach maximum recovery. Reality is, the vast, vast majority of that healing happens in the first six months,” Patel said. “Nerve healing doesn’t wax and wane. Doesn’t heal and go backward. For him to throw a solid game one day and then poorly the next, it doesn’t say to me his arm is falling apart, it says to me he had a bad game.”

Manning blamed the interceptions on his “poor decisions” to throw into quality coverage, but he declined last week to expound upon what he had learned about the throws he can and can’t make, or what he was reading of the Atlanta defense.

So, should the fact that Manning made poor decisions — and the same poor decisions — three times in one quarter worry Broncos fans more than the fact that some of his passes aren’t perfect spirals?

Fox said no.

“I look at that glass half full. I look at the way he finished, the way he adjusted and the way he remained determined. I mean, if we can get a stop (at the end), we have a chance to win that game. Very close.”

Smith, who will be inducted into the Broncos’ Ring of Fame on Sunday, fielded text message after text message last week after Manning’s rocky start. After a couple of days around the Broncos last week, Smith wants to calm the panic.

“Offense is about timing. A lot of people don’t understand that. They want you to come out and be perfect, and that’s not going to happen,” Smith said. “Trust me, he has plenty of arm strength. You don’t have to throw it as far. You just have to be accurate. When he needs to fire one in there, he can. He can let that thing go like a baseball if he has to.”

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Tyreek Hill didn’t know what to do when he started hearing thousands of people in Arrowhead Stadium chanting his name, even as he stood all alone on the frozen turf waiting for the punt.